03/01/2018 01:00 PM FINANCE

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HOUSE BILL NO. 285
"An Act making appropriations for the operating and
capital expenses of the state's integrated
comprehensive mental health program; and providing for
an effective date."
HOUSE BILL NO. 286
"An Act making appropriations for the operating and
loan program expenses of state government and for
certain programs; capitalizing funds; amending
appropriations; making supplemental appropriations;
making appropriations under art. IX, sec. 17(c),
Constitution of the State of Alaska, from the
constitutional budget reserve fund; and providing for
an effective date."
1:04:30 PM
^PUBLIC TESTIMONY: HOMER, KENAI, KETCHIKAN, KODIAK, MAT-SU,and SEWARD1:07:00 PM
BRYAN ZAK, MAYOR, CITY OF HOMER, HOMER (via
teleconference), testified in support of community
assistance funding. He thanked the committee for including
the $30 million in funding in the supplemental budget. He
relayed the funding was important to many rural communities
throughout Alaska.
1:07:57 PM
DONNA ADERHOLD, CITY COUNCIL MEMBER, CITY OF HOMER, HOMER
(via teleconference), spoke in support of community
assistance (also called revenue sharing). She stressed the
importance of the funds to the community, especially
considering state budget cuts. She shared that in 2015 the
city had removed the funds from its operating budget
because of the volatility of the funds. In recent years the
community had used the funds for community health projects
and towards the construction of a new police station that
was a priority to the city. She detailed that Homer would
most likely dedicate funds to police station construction.
The station would include a community jail. She thanked the
committee for its time.
1:09:21 PM
JIM HORNADAY, KENAI PENINSULA COLLEGE COUNCIL, HOMER (via
teleconference), testified in support of the Kenai
Peninsula College (KPC) budget. He shared there were three
campuses located in the area. The college had been told
that the state's funding for the University system had been
decreasing annually by a significant amount. He detailed
that in the past the state had provided 80 percent funding,
but it was down to approximately 40 to 50 percent. He
supported additional state funds. He mentioned matching
funds for the University that brought in over $2 million
for the Bay Reserve. He stated that the program was on the
cutting edge of salmon production, erosion, and ocean
safety. Additionally, he supported Homer funding requests.
1:11:30 PM
DAVE LEWIS, SELF, HOMER (via teleconference), echoed
testimony from the past three speakers. He relayed that
state budget cuts had resulted in cuts to personnel that
had managed grants through the Department of Fish and Game
and the Department of Natural Resources. The state was
losing millions of dollars in grants because they had cut a
position that may cost $75,000 to $100,000. He did not
support the position cut.
1:12:36 PM
GINGER FORTIN, SELF, KETCHIKAN (via teleconference), shared
that she had to travel to Anchorage for medical service and
she was no longer able to fly. She was very concerned about
cuts to the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) that had
resulted in reduced cross-gulf ferry service to her
community. She spoke in support of funding for public
radio.
1:13:50 PM
CYNNA GUBATAYAO, FINANCE DIRECTOR, KETCHIKAN GATEWAY
BOROUGH, KETCHIKAN (via teleconference), thanked the
committee for the additional $30 million in supplemental
community assistance funds. She stressed the importance of
the funds for the borough. The funds had been dwindling in
recent years, but they still represented about 4 percent of
the borough's general fund budget and approximately 0.3
mills on an areawide property tax basis. She urged the
committee to maintain the funds going forward.
1:14:41 PM
JANALEE GAGE, SELF, KETCHIKAN (via teleconference),
testified in support of hospital-based behavioral health
funds. She was supportive the governor's increments for
public guardians, the Alaska Psychiatric Institute (API)
and other. She explained that the opioid crisis and
recidivism could not be addressed without acknowledging the
mental health needs in communities. She supported API but
believed relying only on one facility for the entire state
and sending people in crisis to the facility caused further
trauma by taking people from their homes. She stated that
all the programs were burning at the end of their ropes and
programs were short staffed. She provided an example.
1:16:45 PM
MARY DEIHL, SELF, HOMER (via teleconference), spoke against
cuts to AMHS that had resulted in limited cross-gulf ferry
service. She shared that she was visiting Ketchikan and had
to fly and rent a car because there had been no ferry
service. She would have much preferred taking the ferry.
1:17:34 PM
HEATHER FOXWORTHY, PARENTS AS TEACHERS, KODIAK (via
teleconference), testified in support of Parents as
Teachers. She spoke about the money saved to local school
districts because of the program. She pointed to research
showing that every dollar spent on early education and
preventative services saved the state up to $14 later. She
asked the committee how they felt when they had been first-
time parents. She asked members to think about whether they
had instantly been experts about children and had felt
totally prepared for the situation. She stressed that
healthy communities were built by healthy families.
1:19:34 PM
BRENDA AHLBERG, KENAI PENINSULA BOROUGH, KENAI (via
teleconference), testified in support of funding for the
community assistance program. She shared that 27
unincorporated communities received the funds and each
community determined how to spend the funds. Over the years
of managing the grant program she had seen it go from
revenue sharing to community assistance. She had seen
several great projects come to fruition over the years as a
result of the funding. She spoke about matching grants and
work by residents. She thanked the committee for its
support.
1:21:29 PM
Co-Chair Seaton noted that there was currently no one else
online to testify. He shared that the committee would break
for 10 minutes.
1:22:12 PM
AT EASE
1:36:36 PM
RECONVENED
LOUIE FLORA, KACHEMAK BAY CAMPUS COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD,
HOMER (via teleconference), testified in support of the
proposed increase to $336 million for the University. He
noted it was still a decrease but represented a step in the
right direction. He believed funding for the University was
a strategic long-term investment. He thought the University
system well-suited to work on some of the challenges and
capture the benefit of research funding for the Arctic
pertaining to climate change. He reiterated his support for
additional funding for the University.
1:38:12 PM
PAT BRANSON, MAYOR OF KODIAK, KODIAK (via teleconference),
testified in support of community assistance funds and
thanked the legislature for including additional funding in
the supplemental budget. The cities around the state used
the funds for local government operation. She expressed
appreciation on behalf of the Alaska Municipal League as
well.
Co-Chair Seaton noted the committee would take a break for
5 minutes.
1:39:42 PM
AT EASE
1:47:07 PM
RECONVENED
GHERT ABBOTT, SELF, KETCHIKAN (via teleconference),
testified in support of protecting and fully funding
Medicaid expansion allowed by the Affordable Care Act. The
expansion had done considerable good for the health and
well-being in Alaska. Medicaid expansion had provided
substantial benefit to him after a suicide attempt. He
shared information about a friend who benefitted from
Medicaid expansion as well. He felt strongly that the
accessibility of the program should be protected.
Representative Wilson relayed that Medicaid expansion was
fully funded in the budget.
Mr. Abbott replied that he was grateful to hear the
information.
1:50:07 PM
JOE GRISKONIS, SELF, KODIAK (via teleconference), echoed
Mr. Abbott's testimony pertaining to Medicaid expansion. He
believed it was important to speak about mental health in
Alaska. He stressed the importance of universal access in
rural Alaska. He lauded the Kodiak LIO office for it
services. He asked the committee to include money for
specific services for mental health. He shared that he was
working to harvest kelp. He spoke about his personal
challenges and the importance of love and compassion in
communities. He stated there were angels all around and
funds from the legislature had saved lives. He thanked
legislators for their work. He spoke to the importance of
participation and being part of the change.
Co-Chair Seaton relayed the committee would take a 15-
minute break.
1:55:14 PM
AT EASE
2:11:15 PM
RECONVENED
Co-Chair Seaton noted there continued to be no testifiers
online. The committee would come back at 2:30 p.m.
2:12:10 PM
AT EASE
2:29:02 PM
RECONVENED
ROBERT ARCHIBALD, SELF, HOMER (via teleconference),
testified in support of funding for the Department of Fish
and Game budget to allow the department to access federal
grants. He shared that he was a member of Friends at
Kachemak Bay State Park and that federal funds would
benefit the state park system.
Co-Chair Seaton relayed the committee would break until
3:00 p.m.
2:31:50 PM
AT EASE
3:16:32 PM
RECONVENED
^PUBLIC TESTIMONY: UTQIAGVIK, DILLINGHAM, and FAIRBANKS3:16:56 PM
JEANETTE GRASTO, NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS,
FAIRBANKS (via teleconference), testified in support of
funding for mental illness and substance abuse programs.
She shared that she had adult family members with serious
mental illness. She asked for the committee to support the
subcommittee recommendation to add $1.9 million of funds
for three years to help hospitals better serve adults with
behavioral health issues. She discussed a shortage of
treatment beds. She asked for support for one-time funding
of $159,000 in state funds matched with Alaska Mental
Health Trust Authority (AMHTA) funds to study the need for
forensic beds for justice-involve individuals. She did not
think the state hospital was large enough to meet the needs
of the state. She supported the governor's request of funds
for public guardians funding for the Office of Public
Advocacy (OPA). She discussed the important work of public
guardians, and their high caseloads. She also supported
funding for substance abuse and treatment disorders.
3:19:31 PM
RICHARD THEILMANN, SELF, FAIRBANKS (via teleconference),
spoke in support of funding for the University. He expected
the government to fund roads, law enforcement, and the
University. He pointed out that the University produced
income, and thought cuts were unwarranted. He thought the
University should be fully funded and that the funding
should exceed that of the governor's proposed budget. He
shared concerned about lack of University funding.
3:20:57 PM
DON GRAY, SELF, FAIRBANKS (via teleconference), testified
in support of using Permanent Fund earnings to pay for
government. He discussed an income tax and bonding to pay
for new infrastructure. He was a former stock broker. He
did not like the state's lack of a balanced budget. He
discussed the Standard and Poor credit rating of the state.
He thought the state should use the means it had available
to pay for government. He thought the Permanent Fund should
be reasonable. He considered that there should be
progressive taxes to fund government priorities such as
roads, public safety, and University. He thought K-12
education should be a priority.
3:23:15 PM
KATHY KARELLA, SELF/FAMILY, FAIRBANKS (via teleconference),
testified in support of funding for services for
individuals with mental and physical disabilities and
substance abuse issues. She supported funding services for
individuals in the criminal justice system. She discussed
supports for mental health. Her brother in law was disabled
and needed to utilize state services. She thought services
needed to be easily accessible. Her family had used public
guardian services. She emphasized the need for recidivism
reduction services, and treatment for substance abuse.
3:25:36 PM
DONALD KARELLA, SELF/FAMILY, FAIRBANKS (via
teleconference), spoke in support of funding for the
homeless. He had worked in corrections for 15 years. He
discussed the issue of mass incarceration and mental health
issues. He shared concerns about lack of services for
veterans and homeless. He was a Viet Nam veteran. He urged
the legislature to take care of people that needed help. He
referenced a comment from the U.S. Surgeon General that
indicated a $1 investment in mental health returned $17.
3:28:02 PM
STEVEN HANSEN, SELF, FAIRBANKS (via teleconference), spoke
in support of funding for travel in the Public Defender
Agency. He was a public defender for the agency. He
addressed the travel budget, which he considered an
important tool through which his division delivered justice
to the rural communities it oversaw. The Fairbanks Court
System was responsible for rural courts in Tok, Delta
Junction, Nenana, Fort Yukon, and Galena. The legislature
had amended Criminal Rule 11 a few years previously, which
had given the agency additional options for community
sentencing. He had travelled to villages to hold
community/alternative sentencing events, which he
considered had been an effective tool in reducing
recidivism. He wanted to ensure that communities could be
safe by delivering a sentencing mechanism that seemed to
have a strong effect. He discussed the issue of bringing
clients into Fairbanks, and a recent court of appeals
decision.
3:30:10 PM
MARNA SANFORD, SELF, FAIRBANKS (via teleconference),
testified in support of funding for the Department of
Public Safety, and for Public Defenders. She thought there
could not be an effective criminal justice system without
funding for public defenders. She emphasized the public
defenders were the first people who came into jail to speak
to offenders. She emphasized that Alaskan jails were
housing the mentally ill of the state. She discussed the
heavy caseloads of public defenders in the state. She
referenced the comments of an earlier testifier that spoke
about OPA, and supported funding for public guardians.
3:32:23 PM
JODY POTTS, SELF, FAIRBANKS (via teleconference), spoke in
support of funding for the Village Public Safety Officer
(VPSO) program. She was a Village Public Safety Officer
(VPSO) sergeant and the VPSO coordinator at Tanana Chief's
Conference. She thanked Representative Kawasaki and
Representative Lincoln and the House Finance Subcommittee
for the Department of Public Safety for the budget
recommendations for the VPSO program in rural Alaska. She
thought there was potential to make safer rural communities
if regional contractors were allowed flexibility to manage
the program to meet the needs of the citizens. She reminded
that VPSO positions had over 30 vacancies, with over 100
rural communities without law enforcement present. She was
concerned about justice for victims.
3:34:11 PM
RON TEMPLETON, FAIRBANKS FIRE DEPARTMENT, FAIRBANKS (via
teleconference), testified in support of returning Public
Employees' Retirement System (PERS) to a defined benefit
retirement. He was the assistant chief of the Fairbanks
Fire Department. He supported funding for fire departments.
He discussed hiring practices of the fire department. He
discussed the steep decline in applicants and the high rate
of employee turnover in the fire department since the
advent of Tier 4 in the retirement system. He discussed the
expense of training new employees, and the impact on the
department. He had seen other Alaskan fire departments
experiencing the same problems with recruitment and
retention of employees.
3:36:28 PM
RANDY GRIFFIN, SELF, FAIRBANKS (via teleconference),
testified in support of a draw on the earnings reserve of
the Permanent Fund. He had donated his PFD to the General
Fund in previous years. He did not support an income tax.
He supported further budget cuts.
3:38:42 PM
KATE RIPLEY, UAF ALUMNI ASSOCIATION, FAIRBANKS (via
teleconference), testified in support of funding UA at the
level recommended by the House Finance Subcommittee. She
thought that investment in the University generated
additional revenue of $1 billion per year in the state. She
considered that the University was an economic driver that
trained and educated citizens. She discussed graduates of
the University system, who relied less on other government
safety-net services and stayed out of the criminal justice
system. She discussed arctic research. She referenced a
study by the alumni association, that found that 37,000 of
the registered voters in Alaska were UA alumni. She thought
UA President James Johnsen had correctly stated that a
great state needed a great university.
3:41:12 PM
AT EASE
4:02:00 PM
RECONVENED
^PUBLIC TESTIMONY: OFF NET SITES4:02:06 PM
RON JOHNSON, SELF, FAIRBANKS (via teleconference),
commented on the Permanent Fund Dividend. He thought the
legislature had assigned 33 percent of the Permanent Fund
earnings to the PFD. Instead, he suggested reducing the PFD
amount to $800 and using the savings to increase the
Department of Health and Social Services' budget. It would
benefit people in need. Also, he urged the legislature to
ramp down the total operating budget, as the state could
not afford to spend the way it had previously. He referred
to a previous caller who made comments about HB 83 that
would allow new state employees a choice of defined
benefits. He was not opposed to allowing new people to have
defined benefits. However, if the state did so, a plan to
ensure a reasonable rate of return on the state's
investments was necessary. He was concerned with the
possibility of increasing the state's unfunded liability,
as the state was already behind in its funding. He pointed
out that there were large budget drivers: Health and Social
Services, education, and the PFD. He thought it was
necessary to control these costs if the state was going to
solve its long-term budget problem. He thanked the
committee.
4:04:49 PM
JEFF BENOWITZ, SELF, FAIRBANKS (via teleconference),
encouraged the legislature to support the full budget
request from the University of Alaska Board of Regents. He
thought of the university system as a mutual fund: Not
everyone would agree with every stock purchased, however,
investing in an index fund would bring greater returns. He
wanted the University to be careful about increasing fees.
He thanked members for their service.
Co-Chair Seaton relayed that the committee would take a 10-
minute break. If no one called in by 4:30 p.m. he would end
public testimony.
4:06:52 PM
AT EASE
4:17:01 PM
RECONVENED
4:17:21 PM
CINDY WRIGHT, UAF ALUMNI BOARD MEMBER, FAIRBANKS (via
teleconference), spoke in favor of the funding level
supported by the House Finance Committee sought funding for
the University of Alaska. She was a representative of the
UAF Alumni Board of Directors. She earned an undergraduate
degree in education in 1988. She thanked Representative
Wool for his amendment to increase the investment in the
University. She asserted that the University generated
revenues of about $1 billion each year. She thought the
university was an economic driver by training and educating
Alaska's citizens. She relayed that UAF was the worldwide
leader in arctic research, something to be proud of.
Approximately 37,000 of the registered voters in Alaska
were UAF alumni. They stayed in the state, contributed to
their communities, bought or built homes, paid property
taxes, raised families, and ran businesses. Students that
leave the state for college often do not return to the
state. President Johnson had stated, "Great states have
great universities." She thanked the committee.
Co-Chair Seaton recognized Representative Kawasaki
listening online.
4:19:41 PM
ALAN BACKFORD, SELF, DILLINGHAM (via teleconference),
thought the state and federal governments were having
financial problems due to abortion and similar things. He
advocated for removing abortion from Medicaid benefits. He
quoted from the Bible. He thanked the committee.
Co-Chair Seaton indicated there was no one online to
testify. The committee would take a break until 4:30 PM.
4:21:01 PM
AT EASE
4:31:12 PM
RECONVENED
KALEEN LAMB, SELF, FAIRBANKS (via teleconference), asked to
keep [inaudible] in the operating budget, as it would help
everyone.
4:33:03 PM
BROTHER TOM PATMOR, SELF, CLAM GULCH (via teleconference),
stated that since a large percentage of the state's budget
would most likely be funded with money from the Permanent
Fund and since most Alaskans were opposed to the draining
of the fund, he advocated giving the fund some form of
collateral. He suggested either to consider the money
involved a loan or an outright sale of some of the state's
resources. Some of the resources were costing money to
maintain or were not being used by the public. He stated
that the Dalton Highway cost the state approximately $20
million per year to maintain. If the Alaska Permanent Fund
Corporation owned it, the corporation could make it a toll
road and lease or sell lots alongside it for traveler
convenience. He provided other examples of state resources
being owned by the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation.
Co-Chair Seaton relayed that since there were no other
testifiers online and it was after 4:30 p.m. he would be
adjourning the meeting for the day. He relayed that written
testimony could be submitted to housefinance@akleg.gov
through 1:00 p.m, Saturday, March 3, 2018. He reminded
members that amendments to HB 285 and HB 286 were due the
Legislative Finance Division via the amendment system by
5:00 p.m., Saturday, March 3, 2018. Members were encouraged
to submit amendments before that deadline. He reviewed the
agenda for the following meeting.
HB 285 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
HB 286 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.